ST. LOUIS — Royals top prospect Jac Caglianone went 0-for-5 in his major league debut on Tuesday night, but his presence was enough to help Kansas City overcome a five-run deficit to beat the St. Louis Cardinals 10-7.
“You see him just come in the clubhouse today, and you see what we do out in the field,” Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. said. “That doesn’t kind of just happen by chance. It’s just one of those things where everyone kind of gets excited, and then you go out there and want to do your part and go out there and put up 10 runs.”
Caglianone batted sixth as the Royals’ designated hitter.
He stepped up to the plate for the first time to lead off the second inning to loud cheers from a crowd that featured plenty of Royals fans who ventured across the state to see the sixth overall pick of the 2024 amateur draft’s debut.
“That was awesome,” Caglianone said. “That’s something I’ll definitely remember forever. I can’t really thank the people for coming out like that and showing their support and stuff like that. I’m just grateful for it.”
Caliganone lined a 1-2 pitch from Andre Pallante to the right-center field warning track where Cardinals center fielder Victor Scott II raced 92 feet to make a running catch just steps away from the outfield wall.
Caglianone came close to picking up his first career hit on groundouts to Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado in the fifth and seventh innings, but the 10-time Gold Glove Award winner made off-balance throws on both plays to nail him at first base.
“He was great in the dugout,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “He went up there, attacked. I think it was a bad idea to hit it to those two guys his first two at bats. There’s a really, really good catch in the first at bat, and then anything you hit to Arenado is not really a great idea. But he squared it up. He was ready to go. He looked poised. There will be plenty of hits for him.”
Caglianone was facing Oklahoma State as a member of the Florida Gators in the NCAA baseball tournament at this time a year ago. On Tuesday night, he played in front of 26,656 fans.
“The first time I stepped out onto the field, just wanted to check out the field and stuff, my initial thought was these places really are like, kind of fish bowls,” Caglianone said. “The grandstands just keep going up forever it felt like, but it was nice.”
The 22-year-old Caglianone hit .319 with nine home runs and 43 RBIs in 38 games with Triple-A Omaha after playing the first 12 games of the season with Double-A Northwest Arkansas — living up to the lofty expectations the Royals had when they drafted him.
“We were really excited when he got to us,” Royals general manager J.J. Picollo recalled. “What we didn’t know is, how long does it take? You never know how long it’s going to take, and if it took one year or two years, as long as he becomes a good major league player, we’d be fine with it.
“So, there was no real need, coming into this year, to see him up in ’25, but he went out and did what you want players to do.”
Caglianone’s new big league teammates, however, aren’t looking for him to be a hero.
“Where I would caution him is like he’s not a savior to this offense, nor should he think he think he is, nor should anybody think he is because that’s super unfair,” Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino said. “He needs to come into this lineup and be his best self because his best self is what helps us the most, not him trying to do too much or to try to save the offense.”
CINCINNATI — Christian Yelich had two homers among his four hits and drove in five runs as the Milwaukee Brewers overcame a seven-run deficit to beat the Cincinnati Reds 10-8 Friday night for their club record-tying 13th straight victory.
The Brewers became the first team in 94 years to extend a double-digit win streak with a comeback win of seven or more runs, according to ESPN Research.
The Reds chased Brewers rookie Jacob Misiorowski – making his first start since July 28 – with a seven-run seventh inning to take an 8-1 lead.
Yelich homered leading off the second against Nick Martinez for Milwaukee’s first run. He had an RBI double in the third before Andrew Vaughn hit his 14th homer – a three-run shot – and Brice Turang‘s RBI double to cut it to 8-6. Yelich had a two-run single in the fourth to tie it at 8-all and then hit his 26th homer – a one-out, solo shot off Scott Barlow (6-1) in the sixth to give the Brewers the lead.
Yelich did his damage with a bat honoring the late Bob Uecker. It had the home run call of the former catcher and longtime Brewers’ announcer written on it.
This was also Yelich’s third career game with four hits and two home runs, tying Ryan Braun and Willy Adames for most in franchise history, according to ESPN Research.
Brandon Lockridge went 3 for 5 and doubled off Sam Moll with two outs in the seventh before scoring on a wild pitch for an insurance run.
Misiorowski loaded the bases with one out in the second on a hit batter and two walks and left after walking Spencer Steer to force in a run. Elly De La Cruz had the first hit in the inning – a two-run double off DL Hall for a 4-1 lead. Four straight singles increased the lead to 8-1.
Misiorowski was charged with five runs on four hits and three walks in 1 1/3 innings hours after coming off the injured list. Nick Mears (4-3) pitched a scoreless fifth. Trevor Megill struck out two in the ninth for his 29th save. Six relievers combined to retire the final 23 Reds in order.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
ESPN baseball reporter. Covered the L.A. Rams for ESPN from 2016 to 2018 and the L.A. Angels for MLB.com from 2012 to 2016.
LOS ANGELES — Third baseman Max Muncy was diagnosed with a Grade 1 oblique strain and landed on the injured list Friday, a major blow to a Los Angeles Dodgers team that finds itself fading in the standings.
Muncy was originally a late scratch from Wednesday’s lineup after feeling soreness in his right side during pregame batting practice. The Dodgers’ hope was that sitting out for the finale from Angel Stadium, then getting extra rest during the Thursday off day, would allow Muncy to return for a critical series against the division-rival San Diego Padres, who have taken a one-game lead in the National League West.
But Muncy will miss this weekend’s series from Dodger Stadium, as well as the following series from San Diego’s Petco Park next weekend.
“I don’t think anyone expects it to be season-ending,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, “but hopefully it’s sooner than later.”
Roberts doesn’t believe the current oblique injury is as bad as the one that forced Muncy to miss about two months last year, but even in a best-case scenario, the Dodgers might be without their third baseman and left-handed power hitter until around mid-September.
Muncy got off to a bad start this year before turning it on in the middle of May, slashing .312/.438/.616 with 11 home runs in a stretch of 41 games. Muncy then injured his left knee during a scary collision at third base and wound up missing most of July. He returned Aug. 4, went 8-for-23 with four home runs over the course of eight games, and now he’s out again — at a time when the reigning World Series champs could really use some reinforcements.
The Dodgers held a nine-game lead in the NL West as of July 3 and have since gone 12-21 to fall a game back of a surging Padres team that arrived in L.A. on the heels of a five-game winning streak. As many as six high-leverage relievers reside on the Dodgers’ IL, though three of them — Michael Kopech, Kirby Yates and Tanner Scott — are nearing returns. The offense, meanwhile, has been mostly unproductive over the past six weeks, posting an 0.708 OPS that ranks 22nd in the major leagues.
During Muncy’s absence, the Dodgers will use Alex Freeland, a switch-hitting rookie who’s batting .176 in his first 12 games, and Buddy Kennedy, a right-handed-hitting journeyman with a career .193 batting average. Other potential reinforcements like Tommy Edman, Hyeseong Kim and Enrique Hernandez remain on the IL and aren’t close enough to a return.
“It’s certainly a tough loss,” Roberts said. “I think it’s just guys got to continue to perform to their abilities. It’s hard to kind of backfill Max, what he means, as far as the plate discipline, the slug, the on-base, all that stuff. I feel good about our lineup, the guys that we have, and they just have to go out there and take good at-bats. That’s all we can do right now.”
The Phillies said that initial X-rays were negative and that Duran would be evaluated further Saturday.
Pitching in a non-save situation after four days off, Duran began the ninth by facing Paul DeJong, who hit a sharp grounder to the mound on his fourth pitch. The ball deflected off Duran’s foot and into foul territory for a single.
Duran ran toward the ball but began limping as he approached the foul line. After a lengthy visit by team trainers, he took a seat in the Nationals’ bullpen cart and was driven off the field.
“He ran like a shot to retrieve the ball, and once he got there, I think the adrenaline wore off and the pain set in,” Thomson said. “But before the cart came out, he said, ‘I actually feel better, I think I can walk over to the dugout.’ But we got all these steps up here, so we just wanted to use the cart and take him all the way around, so he didn’t have to go up the steps.”
Acquired from Minnesota at the trade deadline, Duran is 4-for-4 in save opportunities with the Phillies.